California — CAARP Advisory Committee & COIN Advisory Board Appointments: Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced several appointments to help drive forward the California Department of Insurance’s mission to protect consumers. These appointments include naming new members Colbie McRae, Gloria Mitchell, and Vinh Truong to the Curriculum Board; Michael Golden to the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan (CAARP) Advisory Committee; and reappointed members Rudy Espinoza and Maïté Irakoze Baur to the California Organized Investment Network (COIN) Advisory Board.
“I am pleased to announce these appointments to the Curriculum Board, the CAARP Advisory Committee, and the COIN Advisory Board,” said Commissioner Lara. “Protecting consumers and addressing inequality are top priorities for our Department. I am confident these appointees will provide their advice and diverse perspectives to continue building a competitive insurance industry in California that best serves consumers.”
The Curriculum Board oversees the development of pre-licensing and continuing education curriculum for agents and brokers to uphold professional standards that protect consumers. This includes a list of preapproved courses of study as well as courses of study for professional designations. This Board also develops standards for providers and instructors who offer courses and other training to licensed agents and brokers.
The Governor and California State Legislature created CAARP to provide auto insurance for motorists unable to obtain coverage in the private market due to their driving records or other extraordinary circumstances. One program within the plan — the California Low Cost Auto Program — aims to provide affordable liability insurance to income-eligible good drivers by assigning them to private insurers based upon the companies’ share of the auto insurance market. The CAARP Advisory Committee provides policy advice to Commissioner Lara on matters affecting the operation of its programs.
The California Organized Investment Network (COIN) was established in 1996 within the Department of Insurance to guide insurers on making financially sound investments that yield environmental benefits throughout California and social benefits within the State’s underserved communities. Commissioner Lara has prioritized COIN investments which drive affordable housing, support small businesses, combat climate change, and encourage investors to utilize diverse investment managers more. The COIN Advisory Board provides guidance to the Commissioner and the COIN program to meet its mission and chief priorities.
The next Curriculum Board meeting will be held on October 19, 2023, the next CAARP Advisory Committee meetings will be held on November 14 and 15, 2023, and the next COIN Advisory Board meeting will be held on November 9, 2023. More details are available at: www.insurance.ca.gov/boards. Public members of the CAARP Advisory Committee receive $250 per meeting. All other positions are uncompensated.
Oregon — The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation recently announced the following Permanent rulemaking:
ID 49-2023: Amendment to 2024 standard bronze and silver health benefit plan
Amended Rule: 836-053-0013
Rule Summary: Amended to update 2024 Standard Bronze and Silver Plans.
Filed: August 30, 2023
Effective: September 1, 2023
Oregon — The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation recently announced the following proposed rulemaking:
Filing Caption: NCCI Statistical Plan Changes
Amend Rule: 836-042-0045
Rule Summary: Amended because NCCI made two revisions to the Statistical Plan: NCCI rolled back its COVID-era suspension of Oregon’s field audit requirements and NCCI removed the exclusion of COVID-19 claims from each insurer’s experience rating.
Filed: August 30, 2023
Hearing: September 26, 2023, 10-10:30 a.m.
This is a hybrid meeting conducted in-person and virtually via Microsoft Teams. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Teams meeting instructions.
Last day/time to offer comment: October 3, 2023, 5 p.m.
Oregon — Final 2024 health rates for individual, small group markets; sees robust options in all counties: The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation has finalized the rate decisions for 2024 health insurance for the individual and small group markets. The division reviews and approves rates for these markets through a detailed and transparent public process before they can be charged to policyholders.
The division hosted public hearings, took public comment, and – after careful consideration and a rigorous review – reached the final decisions announced today. The division published preliminary decisions in July before the public hearings. In the public hearings, members of the public, health insurance companies, and the division had the opportunity to further review and analyze the preliminary decisions.
“We know the cost of health insurance and medicine continue to rise due to circumstances out of people’s hands,” said Andrew R. Stolfi, Oregon’s insurance commissioner and director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. “We work hard to ensure consumers have multiple choices for coverage and to keep premium costs down as much as possible. We are fortunate to have the Oregon Reinsurance Program, which helps stabilize the market and leads to more options in every county across the state.”
Oregon currently has at least five health care options for people to choose from in the individual market in all but one county. All 36 counties have at least four options. This is a big improvement from 2019 when 12 of Oregon’s counties had three or fewer insurers in the individual market. The improvement is even better when factoring in the Health Insurance Marketplace. In 2019, only five counties had at least four companies selling marketplace coverage; today, that is all 36 counties. Also in 2019, 24 of the 36 counties had two or fewer marketplace plans for people to choose from.
“This is a testament to how far we’ve come in increasing access to comprehensive health care to as many people in the state as possible,” Stolfi said. “We will continue to work to make health care accessible and affordable for all Oregonians.”
Individual market The division issued final decisions for six companies in the individual market with average rate changes ranging from a 3.5 percent increase to an 8.5 percent increase for an overall weighted average increase of 6.2 percent, which is a half percent improvement over last year’s average of 6.7 percent. Under the decisions, Silver Standard Plan premiums for a 40-year-old in Portland would range from $467 to $537 a month.
Small group market In the small group market, the division issued final decisions for eight companies with average rate increases ranging from 0.8 percent to 12.4 percent, for an overall weighted average increase of 8.1 percent, which was slightly higher than last year’s average of 7.8 percent. Under the decisions, Silver Standard Plan premiums for a 40-year-old in Portland range from $387 to $459 a month.
2024 final health insurance rate request chart
Facts for 2024:
All 36 Oregon counties will have at least four health plan options in the individual market for its residents and 35 will have at least five. One-third of Oregon counties are offering six options.
The Oregon Reinsurance Program continues to help stabilize the market – lowering rates by nearly 6 percent for the sixth straight year.
Medical costs continue to rise due to inflation, increased use, and the cost of new specialized prescription drugs.
Final decisions for each insurance company can be found at oregonhealthrates.org.
Oregon — Legal Updates Affecting Personal Injury Liens: The Division of Financial Regulation is sharing the attached letter from the Personal Injury Liens Unit within the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). ODHS issued the letter to provide notice of recent court decisions and amendments to administrative rules regarding the ODHS personal injury liens Medicaid program that may affect insurance companies that settle personal injury cases for their insureds.
If you have any questions regarding the information contained in the letter, please contact:
Cassie Soucy (she/her)
Property & Casualty Product Regulation and Compliance Manager
Oregon DCBS | Division of Financial Regulation
503-983-3895 | cassandra.soucy@dcbs.oregon.gov
Documents:
20230905-DFR-cover-letter-attached.pdf
Washington — Eliminating prelicensing education requirements for insurance producers (R 2023-04) proposed rule posted: We have released the proposed rule language on R2023-04. The rule amends sections of Chapter 284-17 WAC following passage of HB 1061, which eliminated the requirement that an applicant for a resident insurance producer license complete a pre-licensure course of study for the lines of authority for which the person applied. This rulemaking will remove language referencing pre-licensing education from existing rules to align with the newly amended statute.
We scheduled a public hearing on the rule:
When: October 10, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Please register via Zoom
Comments on the proposed rule language are due October 11, 2023; please send them to rulescoordinator@oic.wa.gov.
For more information, including the proposed rule language (CR-102), please visit the rule’s webpage.
Washington — OIC decision on dispute resolution mechanism: On February 1, 2023, OIC released a request for information (RFI) for the Balance Billing Protection Act (BBPA) dispute resolution mechanism. OIC solicited comments as to whether, under the authority provided in RCW 48.49.040, Washington state should transition to the federal No Surprises Act Independent Dispute Resolution (NSA IDR) process on July 1, 2023 or continue to use the BBPA arbitration system to resolve disputes between carriers (or self-funded group health plans that have elected to participate in the BBPA) and nonparticipating providers.
On February 27, 2023, in response to comments received to the request for information, OIC announced that it would be delaying transition to the NSA IDR system for a minimum of six months.
On July 20, 2023, OIC released a second RFI related to the BBPA dispute resolution mechanism . OIC solicited comments as to whether, under the authority provided in RCW 48.49.040, Washington state should transition to the NSA IDR process on January 1, 2024 or continue to use the BBPA arbitration system to resolve disputes between carriers (or self-funded group health plans that have elected to participate in the BBPA) and nonparticipating providers. Comments were due August 4th, 2023.
On August 3, 2023, due to the ruling in Texas Medical Association, et al. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services the NSA IDR process was temporarily paused and is no longer accepting newly initiated disputes. Currently, there is no information as to when the NSA IDR system will resume.
OIC, due in part to the above ruling and comments received from interested parties, is once again delaying the transition to the NSA IDR system for a minimum of six months, or no earlier than July 1, 2024. OIC will provide an update on or before March 1, 2024, as to whether Washington state will transition to the federal IDR system on July 1, 2024.
For more information on this RFI or the BBPA please visit our webpage on arbitration.
